Ever been to an interview and been less than impressed with the company?

poorlittlefish

I applied for an "immediate start" job in December and got called in for an interview. I was less than impressed with the whole experience and was glad I didn't end up working there...

I emailed my CV to the address shown, which they must have received in order to call me. The woman who rang said she'd not seen it herself and asked me to email it to her directly (so they'd now had it twice). She said she'd forwarded it to the Recruitment Manager, who called me to arrange the interview.

I went along and found no-one on Reception. I could hear voices from the back so I called out but was ignored. After a while someone arrived with a delivery and told me there was a card on the other side of the desk with extension numbers to ring - impossible to see for anyone not "in the know". Despite having been told I was there I was kept waiting nearly half an hour by the interviewer and wasn't offered an apology.

The interview was conducted by the Recruitment Manager, who was a youngster dressed in baggy cardi and leggings. The girl asked some things I thought she'd have known from my CV. It turned out she'd not seen it, so I gave her a copy (making it the third one they'd had).

The job advert hadn't given much away and it soon transpired why. Contrary to the "immediate start" claimed, the job wasn't starting until January. The "generous leave" was just the statutory minimum, while the "competitive salary" was less than I was earning straight out of college 20 years ago. Oh, and you had to work until 8pm some nights and do Saturdays.

I was told I'd hear by the end of the week and didn't. The company seems to operate from mobile phones and I eventually had missed calls on Christmas Eve from two of their numbers. They didn't pick up when I called back so I left messages on each... and never heard from them again.

I think I had a lucky escape. If they are like that with potential employees then I hate to think what it must be like working there or being one of their customers. I'd love to hear any other stories where others have also been less than impressed with their experience!

AP007

Yes I have been to a few where I thought 'what the hell is going on here'

About 10 years ago I went to an interview and there seemed to be 3 people waiting and was then presented in reception by the hiring manager who said 'there had been a mistake and 3 people had been booked in at the same time and could one of us come back later that day'

I said no as I was going back to work so they saw me then or not at all. At that point I wouldn't have accepted the job even if offered it.

Another I turned up and said to a lady on the desk 'I am here to see Mr XXXXX' to which her reply was 'I am sorry he is interviewing today'. I said 'yes me in 10 minutes time'!

One more - arrived for 5pm appointment and was told the bloke I was there to see was off ill but his brother (partner in business) knew I was coming and he was on his way. I asked where he was and I was told he at one of our new sites but I am sure he is on his way. I waited ONE HOUR and then when he arrived he didn't even have a copy of my CV or the job spec and the interview lasted 10 mins!

The last I was early (10 mins) sat waiting and could see the HR manger thought the office window. It got to 3pm and she still hadn't come to get me. Another 10 mins went by then I saw someone bring her in a tray with some tea on it!! 20 mins later and 30 mins late she came out and no word of an apology.

I was a lot younger then but if that was me now (and I had a job like I did then) I would get up and walk out

JassV

woah thats crazy! I've not had it that bad before. I didn't know these kinds of things happen. I've actually walked out of an interview because the interviewer didn't turn up after 20 mins. I had a bad vibe before I got there are the location wasn't great, receptionist seemed snobby and the atmosphere didn't seem right. So I took my chance and just left!

Don't forget when you're going for an interview, you're also there to interview them. You also need to know that the company you're about to walk into is right for you.

So if they can't get it right from the beginning then probably a good idea to move on and find somewhere more professional.

J_i_m

The quality of interviewers varies a lot.

If I think back.. one of the very first interviews I got was as a result of a speculative letter I sent to a company. Anyway, I arrived there punctually, dressed smartly and was kept waiting for ages. And when they did invite me in for the "interview" it was only to tell me that they basically didn't have a job available. Well.. why invite me for interview in the first place then?!

Another interview practically didn't ask me any questions at all and basically waffled on about some nonsense themselves, again totally wasting my time.

Yet another was organised haphazardly, it turned out that the jobs on offer were completely different than advertised and the interviewer spoke at "a million miles an hour" so I could barley take a word in let and hence looked like an idiot having to ask for most questions to be repeated. It was far more like having a sales pitch shouted out me than being interviewed.

I think the quality of interviews are down to how they are prepared and managed. There seems to be a wide spectrum of professionalism out there (or lack of it).

stix62

I've had an interview or two where things just didn't feel right, but the worst/rudest was when half way through a question the interviewers mobile rang and I had to sit there listening to him chatting with a mate for 10 minutes!

No apology or anything when he'd finished, just...'where were we?'
I really felt like saying ...'Are you f'ing kidding?!'

poorlittlefish

J_i_m wrote: »

The quality of interviewers varies a lot.

If I think back.. one of the very first interviews I got was as a result of a speculative letter I sent to a company. Anyway, I arrived there punctually, dressed smartly and was kept waiting for ages. And when they did invite me in for the "interview" it was only to tell me that they basically didn't have a job available. Well.. why invite me for interview in the first place then?!

That reminds me of when I was looking for work which would enable me to move to my new house. I sent out speculative letters and got a call from a company who said they had a new position they were thinking about which my experience made me perfect for. They appreciated how far I'd have to come and the short notice, but asked if I could come for an interview in two days' time? "Yes," said I.

I took time off work and drove over 200 miles in atrocious weather for the "interview". It was literally a chat like you might have in the pub. Nothing to do with the job, certainly no job with them. They were interested in where I was living, what made me decide to move, football, immigration...

Eventually I asked about the job and the answer I got was, "Oh, it was just something that came to mind but we're not going with it now." Shame they didn't bother to let me know before I wasted so much of my time, not to mention loads of money on petrol!

System

Sounds like you had a lucky escape

I was looking for a job last year. I was unhappy where I was so decided I would only move if I was happy with an offer so that led to a very colourful job search. I am an accountant and unfortunately accountants are a miserable bunch to work with and be interviewed by. The term delusions of grandeur come to mind. Here are some examples of the stupidity and incompetence I faced:

- Being told that I would not be able to handle the high profile of clients. Ermmm did you look at my CV? I replied - sorry don't mean to sound rude but the firm I work for has over 100 offices worldwide and over 5k employees. Yours has 1 office and 23 employees. My clients have assets of 4.5 billion and you biggest client has a turnover of 25 million. Do you actually understand who I work for?

- Guy wouldn't even speak to me. Then said his was a huge company blah blah. I said OK I guess we are done but I did do the 4.5 billion speach like above just to let him know.

- I had one with a test. She only gave me 92%. I knew she was wrong. We had a 'discussion' and she still wouldn't agree. She took me to the firm's resources section and guess what, I was right! Didn't get the job though.........

TBH recruitment consultants were just as bad.

FBaby

Unless you are absolutely desperate for a job, interviews go both ways and are also for the candidate to consider whether the job is right for them. I have been to two interviews which led me decide I wouldn't take the job. One I was offered and turned down, the other, I thought was my dream job in every way, was desperate to get it, worked really hard for the interview, but I came out totally confused questioning whether I would want to work there. When they didn't bother to get back to me when they said they would, and then only informing me a week later that I hadn't been chosen, via an automated internet site, I knew that even if they had had offered it to me, I wouldn't have taken it.

DKLS

On a number of occasions I have decided that I no longer wanted the job, one occasion the salary was described as market rates, which turned out to be the market rate for a Mongolian sheep herder, I terminated the interview there and then.

Mulder00

I've gone for an interview after confirming the minimum salary I was looking for was X (before even setting up the interview). After a shocking interview where it became very clear that my potential boss didn't have much of an idea of what he was talking about (I'm an IT professional and he thought he was too), they updated the job specify the salary and they made it 35% less than I was asking for - a pittance compared to what they expected from the role.

Horace

I can remember attending an interview for a job with one of the government agencies . It seemed ok until I actually went into the room itself and there were two guys asking questions - there were two jobs on offer which meant working for either one of them. It started fairly smoothly until one decided he didn't like the questions the other was asking because it had previously been agreed that they would share the questioning. It turned into a real slanging match with me sitting there - in the end I stood up and said that I was leaving because it was obvious that they weren't interested in interviewing anybody. They did call me back for another interview but I had already seen enough so I declined.